


To Be Determin(ation)ed

by kinri



Series: Dearly Beloved [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Dearly Beloved - Series, F/F, F/M, Gender-Neutral Pronouns For Reader, M/M, Mystery, POV Second Person, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader-Insert, Swearing, Timeline Shenanigans, Vague Slow Burn, World - Undertale, World Hopping, crossovers+, dumb references everywhere, en route pacifist ending, or i'm trying my damnedest anyways, reader has a History, reader has a nickname, that is a little graphic, typical world violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-07-17 08:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16092050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinri/pseuds/kinri
Summary: Howdy, Anomaly! How did you get get here?This isn't your World.You and your shadowy friends are not welcomed.





	1. Welcome to Underground

**Author's Note:**

> I love Kingdom Hearts. I love Undertale. Boom. They made a baby.
> 
> This is a plot idea that just...kinda ran away and here I am. Busted out ye ol' laptop to post it. This is also going to be my attempt to get back into writing again.
> 
> A lot of it was originally inspired by AmaLee's [Dearly Beloved.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB1NMf9Qe-Y)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (begentle,itsbeenyearssinceiwroteafic)

There were worse places to land than in a field of yellow flowers you decided after your third sneeze. The agitated pollen settled from your abrupt landing, barely stirring when you finally stumbled forward from your three-point crouch. Your face scrunched, the tightness building in your sinuses led to a fourth sneeze in your elbow. A dull throb built between your temples while you wiped your nose with your forearm, absorbing your new environment over the back of your hand. 

It was dark—moreso dimmed than actual darkness the likes of the Corridors—which made sense when you looked at the looming stalactites overhead warily. The walls reflected and the hole you floated down from sported a pinprick of light at the top that could have been _maaaybe_ the surface. You took a half step back to align yourself under the yawning hole and pondered.

The urge to try and climb up the shaft was great and your fingers flexed and cracked with the idea. You mentally planned how you could reach that opening first. Jumping seemed to be the best, you were confident that you could reach the lip of the hole, to claw through the mouth, and scurry up length of it like a gecko.

“...that’s assuming there’s _something_ to grab onto…”

And that your stamina would last until the top.

Your contemplative hum filled the quiet cavern while trying (a failing) to measure an idea of how far the light was from you. You clicked your tongue, annoyed.

“Don’t do it, Salt…” you scolded, scowling at the sudden vivid thought of making it halfway, arms trembling, hands burning, sweat beading into your eyes—it had been near a day since you started this climb, your throat parched and body weak, but there was no place to rest—air whistled passed your ears as you passed out from exhaustion.

“...your White Mage is, like, a Baker’s Dozen Worlds back.”

Ain’t nobody got time to put your happy ass back together...slash it’s a bit hard to do so when they’re not… _here_ …

Wherever that was.

You look towards the only exit to the cavern, alternating your weight from one foot to the other while propping a hand on your hip, debating, weighing, pondering. The cave seemed empty, nothing in the shadows crawled their way out. Nothing seemed to be an immediate threat—except for maybe the immediate expulsion of your brain through your nasal cavity—so you took a step forward out of the flower patch—

“Well, howdy!”

And threw yourself back with a shriek, arms flailing to catch your balance.

What. Was. That.

Your head whipped to the left and then to the right. The cavern was empty. Just you and yellow flowers and allergies as you fought back another sneeze from the displaced pollen.

“You’re a bit old for falling down a hole! What’s your name, Anomaly?”

You jerked back another step, trying to narrow down the direction of the voice by tilting your head and listening. Nothing jumped out at you. You huff, dragging your fingers against your temple to the back in a confused scratch. A keening hiss passed your lips you when you tried to pull away your hand, some strays tangled in the small chain link bracelet on your wrist and relieved you of some hair smartly.

A tinny voice scoffed. (“I’ve never seen you before.”)

“Down here, you big—est friend!” You froze at the sour and nasty voice turning sweet, your eyes darting down. One of the yellow flowers bloomed between feet, wiggling and flexing their leaves. They had a face and was...smiling...

...a’ight.

You could work with this.

You dropped to their height, arms crossed atop your knees while staring this World’s inhabitant in the eye critically. Talking flowers were...something new. But that had to be in the same vein of sentient animals trying to force you into a mortgage, right? Right! So, you plastered a dumb smile to your face and reached over your knee to shake their hand—er...leaf?

It was only polite...

“Well, hello there, lil—“

“I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower! Nice to meet you!” Your smile twitched, your greeting ignored. “Wow! You must be new to the area!” They wriggled their stem. 

“Um...yeah! Just dropped in—“

“You must be really confused!” You purse your lips, opening your mouth to correct the flower. They winked. And...a manifestation of a star? Appeared before shattering with their cutesy, disarming smile. Your finger curled down, unsure how to approach this native. “Don’t worry!” they cheered. “Ol’ Flowey will show you how it’s done!”

Your chest contracted, stealing your breath as something wrenched deep from within, and a frame flashed of a nasty smile crossing the flower’s face. A half a breath later, you kicked back, letting gravity role you up your spine and over your shoulder, pollen and petals bursting with the force as you land on the balls of your feet. The pressure was gone and you could breathe, but you skipped back a good distance just as a precaution.

Three consecutive sneezes had your eyes watering. Through blurry eyes as you wiped them with the corner of your sleeve, the yellow blob known as Flowey stared blankly, as if slowly processing what happened.

“Now, why’d you’d go and do that?” it asked, hurt coloring its reedy voice.

You blinked and it was gone. You blinked again, watching the field before locking on to the yellow flower just as its green stem sprouted between your feet again. You stared, scanning the creature rapidly when your eyes widened at what struck you odd about it.

“Golly! I just want to help! Here! Let me try it again—“

You leapt to the other side of the field, close to the mouth of the chamber (when did that door get there?) and out of the flowers. Your hand clutched protectively over your heart, bunching the fabric of your shirt, eyes narrow and suspicious at the plant as its cute face melted away to something nasty and mean.

“What is this? Just stay. Still. And let me teach you how things go—“

“Yeah—no,” you interrupted. The flower actually looked offended. “You’re touching some quality goods here and I’d appreciate if you cease and desist—where’d you go?”

The damn thing burrowed under ground, nothing disrupting the surface like they did in old B-rated horror films. You took a few side steps, watching the ground to lock on the decidedly not friendly native when something thick and scratchy bit into your bare ankle.

You yanked viciously at the binding, swallowing a yell at the sharp thorns slithering up your calf and locking tightly around your knees. Legs tethered securely to the ground, the purple dirt bulged at your feet before Flowey the Flower bloomed once more before you, folding up from its stem with a mean glare.

“That’s not how this is supposed to go! You’re supposed to sit there stupid as I show you how things work down here.”

You inhale sharply through your teeth. Your vision dimmed, pressure on your chest erupting at the same time.

This wasn’t a flower was your horrified thought. How could you think it was a normal flower!? You were frozen in place and you knew it wasn’t the vines holding you still anymore. It was cold and hard to breathe as a weight pulled out slowly out of your chest.

It hurt to lose your heart like this, it always did. But, as your fingers flexed, trying to break the bond that held you, and move your left arm, you vaguely discern that it wasn’t really the same...pain.

“...what are you doing, idiot? Open your eyes!”

That was when you realized the world was dark because of how hard you had clenched your eyes. It hurt to open them and—after blinking them clear—your world was no longer dark, but black and white.

With the significant exception of a brilliant colored heart-shaped object floating in a cube just before your chest.

“By the Lanes...what the _**fuck**_ is that!?” You looked to the flower who no longer was smiling or winking cutesy. Its face was morphed into a cracked grin, a smile that took pleasure in fear with dark sockets that had small glowing dots for pupils.

“That is your SOUL! It’s the culmination of your being!” Its nasty grin drooped a little, thrown off of its seemingly scripted rant as its beady little eyelights darted around the...the SOUL (you felt a little sick at calling it that, this was your heart!) to you gritting your teeth and back to it, watching as it jerked and circled in its cage with every movement you made. “...it starts out weak, but yours… You’re not...you’re really not from around here, best friend?”

It wasn’t really a question.

The tiny pupils filled its eyes. “That’s a lot of LOVE you already got there.”

White petals float from behind the monochrome flower and arc around it like a bad posse.

“Don’t worry! I’ve got these…’friendliness pellets’ to share! Just...try to move around and catch them all!”

The petals spin towards your heart/SOUL, your bright and shining heart that had you gritting your teeth and forcibly dodging them, crashing into the walls in your effort. Even with Flowey’s nasty, little smile, what struck you odd about this flower was not its obviously fake words.

But its health.

“...what are you doing? Stop moving! And. Run. Into. MY ~~BULLETS~~ friendliness pellets!”

One of the bullets managed to scratch your heart and you felt the damage reflecting onto your physical being (high on your cheek that pebbled blood). It was a small scratch. And you saw a flash of fear in the flower’s eyes. Which struck you curious as you broke your paralysis just enough to flex your hand. From the corner of your eye, white light radiated on your left side. 

The “friendliness pellets” rushed your heart/SOUL again. This next batch almost struck you, distracted and defenseless in your desire to summon the familiar weight in your hand. It would have been a direct hit if you hadn’t yelled—

“Reflect!”

Your heart/SOUL was swallowed by a dome of translucent hexagons, rainbow in their color as the petals bounced back one by one. The flower dodge the best it could, stretching its stem and ducking, but it missed one rogue petal ricocheting off another. It hit the flower hard enough that it fell away, tearing the monochrome world with it.

The encounter ended with color rushing back to your vision and you collapsing to your hands and knees. You were panting, staring at the purple ground, the weight in your hand dissipated in white spheres before you dug your fingers in the dirt. With a sharp inhale, you snapped your head up, looking for the little weed, but found yourself alone.

You pushed back to hover on your haunches and grasped the fabric above your heart. Your chest felt heavy with this newly dubbed culmination of you residing there and you gritted your teeth to surge to your feet with cracking knees.

Great, just another reason to keep it under lock and key.

Warily, you reexamined your surroundings, taking note of the big, looming pillars surrounding a large door with a symbol that had wings and triangles decorating it. You looked back over your shoulder to the flower patch that you landed in wistfully, the idea of exploring this new World no longer exciting.

But you had a job that only you could do.

Which was why you fortified your will, mustering your strength to look away and forcing your hand to loose its grip on your shirt and fall to your side. Rolling your shoulders back, you pressed forward, opening the monstrous doors resolutely and marching through them.

Faintly, you mused if you’d find someone actually friendly this time.


	2. Mysterious hooded man watches (from a distance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find yourself in a winter wonderland.
> 
> Why do you have this funny feeling that you've done this before?

Flowey bloomed midst the pile of dead leaves entering the Ruins, eyes narrow at the stranger who meandered up the right staircase, visibly gawking at the architect in a way that made the flower fume.

Who were you?

He had never seen you before. In the hundreds, thousands of RESETs Flowey had committed, never had _**you**_ fallen into the Underground.

While Timelines can change for him, based on his whims and interferences, there were a few things that even _**he**_ wasn’t able to manipulate.

Like the weirdo that fell and inherited their gift.

The six Humans that fell after…after…

Flowey scowled, bristling his leaves and rattled loudly. He was underground before you even turned to investigate the noise, brushing it off with a shrug and snapped a picture of the plaque hanging over the entrance of the Ruins and then wandered in.

You breezed through the first room: there were no puzzles, Toriel never recalibrated them after the weirdo left. Flowey was reduced to being a bystander, watching this new anomaly explore his domain, full access to the Ruins while the Caretaker was away (Where did she go? She never left for any of the other children) and it infuriated him.

His RESETs never introduced a different Human. It was always the same six. And they always died.

The places that they died, well, Flowey might change those from time to time, being helpful or destructive when it suited his needs. Depending on how...entertaining the Human was determined how much he might intervene.

But those six Humans were the same.

The weirdo was the latest Human. Flowey never allowed the Timeline reach this far before.

And what a mistake that was.

That determined little…

Flowey was brought back to you and he scoffed again. What were you even doing?

He watched, scowling as you hopped on your haunches in front of a Froggit. The Monster actually fled when you fell forward, rolling up into one handed handstand in an impressive demonstration of strength.

Flowey laughed cruelly when you tumbled forward, calling for the Froggit to come back, landing on your face, nicking your chin.

You were fine. He knew you’d be fine. Your HP was high and never had Flowey wished as badly as he did that he could have the smiley trashbag’s Judgement gift. He watched in passivity as you took a running leap over the spike bridge, landing once in the center without even displacing the spike traps and leaping again safely to the other side.

Flowey, so deep in his sulking and bemoaning, never noticed how your feet never touched the spikes or how your clothes and hair floated around you when you landed toe to heel. He was more concerned with the implication of the weirdo’s RESETs. They were the original anomaly. And Flowey knew that they had already RESET multiple times, LOAD as many times as they had died. This had to be the reason why a new Human entered the Underground. Someone to compete with them. Maybe the RESETs only affected the Underground.

He faintly heard you exclaim, “Oooh! Piece of candy!”

But that didn’t make sense, then Flowey would’ve met other Humans other than the Six, there would’ve been more that fell, different humans. What made this weirdo so special?

Flowey sunk in the ground and appeared farther ahead in the Ruins, predicting your linear path since all of the traps were gone. He sprouted in the leaf pile in front of Home and waited out of sight. You were different than the weirdo.

For one:

_**You were an adult.** _

And a scary one.

Flowey remembered the Encounter, he CHECK'd your STATS on the first round. Your DEF, your ATK?

He shuddered at the size. He shuddered at your HP. He couldn’t see your LV. He didn’t know what your EXP was.

But he knew they had to be massive.

**_*They’re looking for something._ **

When you strolled through the final door, snapping a photo of the dead tree with an odd smile, Flowey trembled.

He half expected you to be covered in Dust.

But you looked slightly winded, pleasantly happy as you marched up to Home and knocked sharply on the door moulding.

“Hello, hello?” you called, stepping in. “Is anyone here?”

But no one answered.

Toriel wasn’t here.

Flowey frowned.

In all of the RESETs, Toriel never left. She remained the Caretaker of the Ruins, baking pies, watering flowers, and waiting for the next Human to fall, so that she could try and fail to save them.

But she was gone and that left Flowey suspicious.

Was it the weirdo that made this change in the timeline?

Or was it you?

He burrowed underground, to go to the lone grass patch just before Snowdin Forest. He would wait for you, block your exit. You’d eventually walk this way, there was nowhere else to go.

Flowey had thousands of RESETs under his roots. He could wait for you.

 

—————

 

He didn’t have to wait long before a cheery whistle echoed the empty halls.

The doors opened, light spilling onto his patch of grass. He steeled himself, trying to not let your overpowering presence cow him in fear, ignore the dread of what your actual EXP was, how many Monsters in the Ruins were Dusted by your LOVE. As soon as you passed, he’d go back, count the Dust piles you’d left behind, count how many Monsters still survived your inevitable massacre, and, maybe…

Use that information to sic the weirdo on you.

Maybe the two of you two could take each other out.

But, when the time came to greet you once again, he froze in fear. His face twisting into that of his old face, young and frightened. Your eyes met and Flowey couldn’t help contorting away.

_This was it, he was going to die. He wasn’t going to live beyond this timeline unless the anomaly—_

“Oh, hey! It’s you again!” you called, mouth full and muffled. You were holding a piece of Toriel’s Butterscotch Pie, a few bites already missing from it. 

Flowey scoffed, faking his haughty tone. “Of course it’s—“

A blinding flash. 

He blinked and you were gone. With a start, Flowey twisted behind him to see that you were at the end of the hall, at the door, reaching to touch it with your fingertips. More of the pie was gone, your cheeks puffed like chipmunks as you examined the raised details decorating it.

“How did you do that!?”

You teleported. You must have teleported. Or m-maybe was it a LOAD? You were an anomaly, too. How much DETERMINATION did you have? _How did you pass him?_

You glanced back, swallowing your mouthful and grinned. You tucked the back of your hand under your chin and waggled your fingers at him with a wink.

“It’s a secret!” You pushed on the door and gasped as a frigid gust blew in your face, making you squint and grin in pure delight.

“You’re not really Human, are you!” He accused, panicked, realizing you were leaving before he could say his piece.

You froze, shoulders hitching high before glancing over them at him. Flowey felt a tremor in his stem, the intensity of only seeing your eyes chilling him to the roots.

“It’s kill or be killed here. Did you think any of those Monsters had families?”

You turned fully to look at them, hand still touching the door and Flowey’s bravado fell at your stare. The fear from before was back and he hated how he couldn’t just keep his stupid mouth shut and this unhealthy urge to have the last word would do him in.

It was a tense moment of staring, your silence unnerving and eyes boring into his (Flowey was ashamed to admit he visibly shrunk a little into the ground, face contorting into something familiar and foreign).

His world was dark and all he could hear was crying. 

_**MERCY.** _

“Of course they have families...?” Your question silenced his world and Flowey’s eyes flew open as he stared at you incredibly. “Was that ever a question? Everyone has family.”

You turned away again and shoved through the last barrier to Snowdin Forest, yelling over your shoulder:

“I don’t know what your malfunction is, Buttercup. Killing is the only option when it comes to one thing.”

The door had a mechanism that kept it shut, to seal it from the winter on the other side and to prevent Monsters that made their choice to follow the King and his methods to ever return. It was something the Caretaker devised.

You could leave whenever you want. But you could never come back.

And as you cleared the door, squeezing through the gap shoulder first and tucking the rest of your slice of pie against your chest, the mechanism engaged, ratcheting as it closed.

“And you ain’t it.”

Flowey was left in the dim of the hallway, alone and confused. Confusion that shifted to anger swiftly as soon as you were out of sight.

His face morphed to something cracked and his eyes turned black.

“I’m not it? **_I’m not it!? Do you know what I am? Do you know where you are!?_** ” He raved. “ ** _I’m going to find you, you can’t hide from me here. I know everything here. I am this world’s king!! I’m going to kill you! Kill you and everyone that you ever cared about as soon as I break this barrier!_** ”

Flowey shrieked and raved alone in the hall, cursing you, cursing your family. You slighted him, his philosophy. He would destroy you.

Flowey forgot the fear he felt when he saw you, forgot the LOVE you held and everything that it implied. He only saw red.

And as he snarled his empty threats and promises, he missed agitation in the shadows, the darkness rolling, bubbling, crawling closer. Flowey burrowed back in the ground, oblivious to the shadows that swarmed his spot.

The hallway was silent as darkness agitated, a body birthing from it, facing the direction of the door.

 

—————

 

You smashed the rest of the sweet pie into your mouth with a pleased hum. With every bite, you felt the thrum of magic replenishing the little that you used just now on the angry, talking weed. How satisfying it was to give it a piece of its own medicine.

Did you wonder if those Monsters you encountered had a family? What a stupid question!

Of course they had a family!!

They were sweet and silly creatures. Seeking compliments and soft words, they would even talk back if some of them had a mouth!

They were nothing like that angry little weed. 

You glanced up at the menacing doors with its odd sigil that locked shut behind you, sealing that miserable weed inside and out of your line of sight. Before you was a path carved out of snow and lined with a forest of trees that grew so close together that you were near positive that it would’ve been a struggle to squeeze between their thin trunks.

Light refracted to your left.

Through the ankle deep snow, you crouched in front of the bush just outside of the door and shoved your hands inside to part the branches to see the large lens of a blocky camera. You could hear the mechanical whirls of it focusing and you tilted your head curiously.

You gave it a happy grin, lifting your hand to wiggle your fingers in hello.

You stumbled to your feet, brushing off clumps of snow that clung to your shins before hoofing it down the path, purposely muscling your way through the deeper drifts to burn off the excess anger from the weed’s audacity (and to step around a shattered log in the middle of the path).  
It melted real fast when you realized (after kicking up a spray of surprisingly fluffy snow) that you weren’t really cold. The snow was cold, but not the temperature of cold you had felt before. Something that was prominent when you swooped down and scooped up an arm full. It was light and fluffy and cold against your chest that when you threw it in the air, your intended shriek of joy was a breathless laugh.

“W-wow!” you stuttered as the snow fluffs tickled your cheeks and caught on your eyelashes. “Oh, _wow!_ What? This is crazy!”

You blew into your hands, you could just barely make out your breath as you watched the last of the snow fall, dusting you in a glittery veil, and your eyes were drawn to a dark sky. They narrowed at that, your hands chafing your biceps while staring in thought.

So deep in thought, you slowed your trench through the snow when you reach a rope bridge, still staring up. It’s painfully quiet. You looked around you, at the dense wall trees that grew too close together, the doors in the distance, and then across the bridge before looking back up.

“...where...where are the _stars_?” You scanned your surroundings again. “There’s...there’s no moon. How am I even able to see right now?”

You trudged across the short bridge, stomping the snow off your feet and looking hard at the trees. Something wasn’t right. Something was so wrong with this picture, but you couldn’t put your finger on it.

Instead of dwelling on it, you remained on the path, arms still crossed and grasping your biceps. Silence filled these woods, no crickets, no birds, just crunching snow. You broke the thin trees into a clearing of sorts.

A small snow covered shack resided here with a peculiar blue lamp. You walked up to it and found it almost reached your chest. You stared down at it, head tilting at its odd shape before looking back to the shack. 

A checkpoint? You walked up to it, finally unfolding your arms to brace them on the counter and balanced over it to see if anyone was hiding there.

“Hello hello? Any Monsters here?”

Only condiments greeted you.

You even grabbed one of bottles—ketchup—turning it over to read the label.

You frowned, it was nothing of interest. You placed it back down, pushing away to hang from the counter and stretch your arms and back while scanning the clearing once more. 

Exiting the clearing were more trees. Evergreens so thick and full that they would make a wonderful decoration, so perfect it was as if they were fake—

You froze mid-sway, eyes darting to the fluffy snow on the ground thoughtfully. You half burrowed your foot under it, watching it displace before leaning back to stare at the pitch black sky and rolling your neck to stare down the path whence you came.

You were in a cave when you entered the Ruins...

You were still _**in**_ a cave.

You left the shack and its weird collections of condiments, continuing forward towards the new forest of evergreens and its resulting path. Distractedly, you reached for one of the evergreens’ branches and caught the tip of one. It stretched with a step, snapping out of your fingers to rain the snow that had blanketed it.

It _**felt**_ real. The sharp needles and scratchy bark. The snow that was cold, but not _**that**_ cold.

How did they grow these trees underground?

You were at a fork in the road. You went left and found a river with a fishing pole that had a piece of paper as bait. Curious, you grabbed the end of the fishing line to read it.

_Call me! Here’s my number!_

It was a photo of a monster.

“Huh.”

You dropped the photo, letting it dangle on the fishing line and leaned over the river to see if you could actually see farther down shore.

Nothing.

The whole forest was empty. Following the right path, you found another shack (which was actually a cardboard box), a third shack that had a dog pendant on it awning and a pile of burnt dog treats close by, and then a...snowman??

You squat next to the snowman, staring up at it as if you did it long enough, it would spill its secrets!

Or at least tell you where the other Monsters were...

“There’s more of you, right?” you asked it, arms folded across your knees. “I ran into so many of you in the other place, but here...it’s so quiet.” The snowman stared back with its coal eyes. “You...they’re just not in these woods, right?”

But no one answered.

But...you had a feeling something was ahead, that there was another snowman. You were crouched in front of them, back on your haunches as they asked if you could take a piece of them with you, that they’ve always wanted to travel, but couldn’t.

You marveled at how your pocket wasn’t cold where you kept the snowball or how it didn’t melt.

You blinked, confused as you stood on the other side of the ice patch, absentmindedly patting your pocket for the snowball.

You did, however, find footprints.

They were larger than yours and you amused yourself by playing hopscotch through them, following as they walked with a purpose through the deeper drift. You steadied yourself before hopping over the gap between the path and the shallow snow. They puffed with your landing and left you laughing into the next area.

An ice cream stand with a blue humanoid rabbit slouching against it caught your immediate attention.

A sudden sickness that you didn’t realize plagued you drained from your throat and stomach to your feet and you were lighter than air. You were expecting it to be empty like the rest of these woods, that you were actually alone, that you were too late, that they beat you—

“Oh! Another customer!” You were forcefully yanked from your morose thoughts by the rabbit-man. “Hello! Would you like a Nice Cream? It’s the frozen treat that warms your heart!”

“Oh boy, yes siree would I love to have a Nice Cream!” you laughed. His ears perked up high with a charming smile, reaching into the cooler. “Make it two, if you could. I gotta say, you are a sight for sore eyes. Where is everyone?”

“That’ll be 30G.” You shoved a hand in your pocket, pausing again when you realized you were missing that piece of snow before shaking your head and pulled out a handful of coins that you got from making the Monsters in the Ruins laugh. “Most of the villagers stay in Snowdin. Only the Canine Unit and some skeletons are this far West.”

You counted the amount he asked for and handed it over just as his ears droop.

“Maybe that’s why I’m not getting more customers…”

You resisted the urge to rip off the wrapper on your ice cream bars and gave the Nice Cream Guy a smile instead.

“Don’t worry! Maybe you just need to move your cart closer to the village? Or maybe between that village and another one? I mean, all that’s back here is a locked door from what I can tell… How far are we away from the village?”

The rabbit hummed, cupping his chin in thought and your attention immediately deviated back to your frozen treats. He called it a Nice Cream, but it had to be ice cream, right? Just this World’s...flavor of sweet treat, right?

The thought excited you.

You wanted to taste it so bad and your hand twitched to rip open the wrapper when the Nice Cream Guy broke your focus once again.

“You know… That’s not a bad idea. Snowdin is quite a walk away and only a few Monsters hangout here. I’ll do that! Maybe Waterfall will be a better set up!”

You smile at the rabbit’s wiggling ears as he sets about closing shop, folding the umbrella up in a rush and waves goodbye.

“Just keep following this path! Snowdin is up ahead! Thank you for your business!”

You pocketed one of the Nice Cream and tore the packaging on the other one open with your teeth, tasting the sweet treat.

You hummed in delight and marched on. A weird looking snowflake with a face yelled at you from a distance (“Ice puns are snow problem!”) and had you doubling timing _away_ with an awkward wave over your shoulder. The Monster stuttered and made a half attempt to chase after, but you vanished before his eyes with a wink and a single finger gun. He rubbed his beak in his feathers, ruffling them, and huffed.

The Nice Cream tingled as you finished it and you felt revitalized again. You popped the stick out of mouth in surprise, looking over the treat critically and found a drawing of a hug there.

Your heart warmed at the picture.

“Awh...he was right. It warmed me right up—what’s that?”

Just above your line of sight, a piece of paper was just laying in the middle of a carved out field surrounded by snow. You approached it, snow crunching underfoot before you reached down and grabbed the damp paper. You pulled a sleeve up to wipe off the clinging snow to read it clearly.

_Monster Kidz Word Search_

“...what’s this…?”

You looked up, half expecting someone to jump out and laugh at you. But, no. You were alone in this area. You spared one more glance at the puzzle, reading the words to be found and burst out laughing at ‘giasfclfebrehber’.

“What _**is**_ this?” you asked the clearing, crossing off the word in your mind at the top of the Word Search. Snickering, you pocket the paper and move on.

There was a table with a plate of what looked like frozen spaghetti and an unplugged microwave. Another note had you pausing and laughing again. It was written by a Great Papyrus.

They apparently liked spaghetti.

A Monster with a sharp ice statue for a hat tried to wave you closer, but you were gone before his eyes just like the other Monster. He was more confused as he stared down the path you disappeared from and rubbed his eyes.

You were staring at the dark sky (it had to be the cave’s ceiling. How high did it go?). Your unease before meeting the Nice Cream Guy creeping up again. Why? You battered down that feeling, confused and nervous.

“Chill out!” you scolded before snickering, kicking to a stop before a small footbridge.

You looked around, half-frowning before looking down at your chest and hand. You flexed it, wriggling feeling back into it because even though you’ve been in colder snow, you supposed it was only a matter of time before it affected your digits.

Maybe...maybe this feeling wasn’t necessarily _**wrong**_. It had never taken this long for you to find them (or for them to find _you_ ) before. Your nerves must be waiting for an ambush of some sort.

They _**had**_ to be here. Or you wouldn’t have had landed here.

This World wouldn’t have called for help is it didn’t _**need**_ it.

“...or maybe I’m a bigger baby than I thought.” You looked to the dark sky and your heart tugged with longing for stars.

A reminder that you were doing something _good_.

You shook your head and moved on, half jogging.

Nice Cream Guy said there was a village up ahead. You just had to…

Keep moving forward.

 

—————

 

“...Snowdin?”

You read the sign with a slight smirk and glance back at the cozy looking village. The buildings had a warm glow to them and you immediately loved the atmosphere. You stood in front of the Shop and stared at a decorated tree at the (what you assumed) center of the village. A young humanoid rabbit was walking a small rabbit on a leash and you were immediate struck with the quaintness of it all.

Laughing at a memory of a different World long ago, you brought up your camera to snap a picture and then entered the warm Shop. Your clothes were soaked with your adventure through the forest and you shivered gently from it.

“Hello, traveler! How can I help you?”

Another rabbit!

“Oh! Hello!” You shivered again and try to curb your chattering. “I was wondering you could help me?”

“Are you from the Capital?” She eyed you skeptically and tilted her sunhat back. “You don’t look like a tourist, but you also don’t look like you’re prepared for snow.” She laughed softly behind a paw. “What can I do for you?”

You laughed with her.

“Oh, I’m a bit of a tourist. What can you tell me about Snowdin? It’s my first time visiting!”

She hummed, eyeing you curiously and arms crossed. She gave you a lazy smile.

“Well, if you’re hungry, Grillby’s just two buildings away, near the tree. You can’t miss it. We have a library if you’re interested, and my sister runs the Inn next door.” Her lazy grin crooks a little as she eyed you. “I’d recommend a room there to rest. You look a little...chilled.”

“Well...I didn’t realize how literal the name was!” you laughed, eyeing the visible wares. There was a bandana and...abs were drawn on it. Cute. “How are things here? Seems very peaceful!”

The rabbit hummed, her nose twitching. “It’s a little...claustrophobic, if you ask me. But we’re all hopeful right?” She left the sentence hanging, smiling and you nodded solemnly with her in agreement.

Keeping hope is always a good thing. About what? You weren’t entirely sure. But you weren’t about to ask in fear of losing your stance as a noisy tourist.

You shoved your hand in your pocket for some G. From her tone and ease of her smile (ignoring how her whiskers twitched when you assumed that she was trying to read between the lines about you), no one seemed to be missing. Her comment about claustrophobia made it sound like the villagers were close. You figured it was safe to say they were all accounted for.

(In mind’s eye, this shop was empty, a note opened on the table begging the reader to run, hide. Something was coming. Your hands shook. Too late, you were too late—)

You forcefully stilled the chatter your handful of G made and counted what you grabbed, wanting to buy something from this nice rabbit, to thank her for her (intended and unintended) information. “Ah...what do you have for sale?”

Her ears perks and wiggled at the scent of a sale.

“Oh! Well, I recommend the Cinnamon Bunny. It’s of my own recipe! 25G.”

You hand over the money and take the treat.

“This is cute! Thank you!” you waved goodbye and tuck this treat away.

You rubbed your cheek with a pleased grin. You rarely took anything back with you after a visit in fear of accidentally meddling with another World’s order, but maybe you’d make an exception for this because everything you were buying were all edible.

The tree was even more picturesque (and you snapped a close up of it) and there were many gifts under them. You took a moment to admire it before looking up at the building labeled GRILLBY’S. Inside, you could see large humanoid dogs perched at a table, chatting amongst themselves before you pushed on the door and walked in.

You took one look at the interior and thought bar. Excellent. Bars were always useful for information with the right patrons and mood.

They mostly ignored you, the bipedal dogs huffed softly, chatting in a series of barks, growls, and whines. One patron was so drunk they had literal swirls in their eyes, collapsed against the booth table and the next one behind them was a mouth full of sharp teeth attached to a body. At the bar itself, you recognized one of the Monsters from the photo on the fishing line and a red bird.

The man behind the counter dressed smartly while polishing a glass was on fire.

You breathed a soft, “wow.” It had been a lifetime since you met an elemental. And so domesticated!

You take a seat at the bar, the largest of the bipedal dogs looking up to watch with big eyes.

Would it be considered rude to ask to pet them??

The fire elemental turns to you expectantly, still cleaning the same glass. There wasn’t a visible menu of drinks or food and the labels on the bottles across the shelving were in a language unfamiliar to you. You frowned, humming while trying to think of something you could order that wouldn’t out you too much as an outsider.

“grillby makes good fries, but his burg is nothing to _cheese_ at.”

You tensed, and turned your head at a staccato to look at the seat that was empty and blinked hard at the Monster that _wasn’t there when you sat down._

The bar exploded into a chorus of, “Sans/Sansy!” and a few excited yips from the dogs. But you just stared, reviewing your memories for this Monster and _how_ you missed them.

It was a fucking skeleton, you’d think you’d remembered seeing them.

(You do remember someone crying, thick, wet sobs. Latelatelate—)

The grinning Monster had a basket of fries in front of him and you looked back to the expectant elemental and then back to your pocket change.

“H-how much for a burger—uh—b-burg…?” You looked back to the skeleton for confirmation.

“just put it on my tab, grillz.” He touched a ketchup bottle next to his fries and offered it to you as the elemental rushed off to the back. You held your hand up in a polite decline. “you’re not from around here, are ya?”

“Mmm...nope. Just happened to uh...drop in! It’s been a long while since I’ve seen snow and a name like ‘Snowdin’ sounded...ideal.” The door opened at the back and you looked up to see the elemental returning with a burger, setting it down before you and resumed polishing a new glass. “Thank you!” You beamed, reaching for and then examining your meal.

The Monster took a long drink out of the ketchup bottle at your first bite. You paused mid-chew and flushed a little at how eager you were.

“And thank _you_.” You stressed, cheeks puffed like a chipmunk. The burger _was_ delicious and the tingling that you felt with everything else you had eaten today resurged. “For the glowing recommendation. Are you a local?”

“yeah. name’s sans, sans the skeleton.” He offered a boney hand and you responded by wiping the grease off on your thigh and tightly grasping his with a slap. 

A long drawn out fart filled the bar.

You doubled blink and pulled back your hand just enough to see a whoopie cushion there.

You laughed awkwardly, unsure how to react. “Uh...nice.”

You turned back to your burger, chowing down. Sans scratched at his skull, the enamel _scrikt scrikt scrikt_ at every pass. You resolutely ignored him, feeling rude and simultaneously embarrassed.

“...al’ight, i gotta confess. i don’t know you.”

What...what an odd thing to say.

You hummed, chewing thoughtfully but carefully. You hadn’t picked up any bad vibes yet, but that didn’t really mean...much.

“Well...I guess that would be strange if you did. I don’t know you either.”

You smashed the last three bites of the burger into your mouth, taking your time with sucking the grease from it off of your fingers as the skeleton focused on the bottle, scratching his backside now.

Ye—eessh, this was awkward. Who was this guy? You pulled out the last of the money you collected in the Ruins, intending on just giving it to this Sans character and vamoosing the general area. The general aura of the village was good: positive and happy. Not quite what you were looking for. _**They**_ weren’t here yet, so maybe _**they**_ were somewhere else.

You were needed at the _**somewhere else**_.

You turnabout on the stool, pushing off to hop down when the bar jerked to a violent halt. You were stuck mid-fall, the hair on your arms stood up, the easy chatter silenced, and the warmth of the fiery bartender chilled.

A spotlight illuminated you and the skeleton and you struggled to look at him from the corner of your eye. He was facing you, the white pinpricks extinguished and grin strained.

“where ya heading, pal? i wasn’t done talking.”

You immediately jerked an immobilized shoulder, arms bracing and biceps flexing but you were frozen, stuck. A pressure flexed on your chest—right where your heart was—with your struggle and you tried to bare your teeth in anger.

But you couldn’t. You were trapped by this skeleton monster with everyone else in supposed suspended animation.

The Monster was talking, but you tuned him out, listening to the stuttered beat of your heart and blood pumping through your ears with the spike of adrenaline. This was magic, he was using _magic_ on you.

This pressure on your chest?

This was a form of _Gravity_.

The frozen patrons?

A field wide version of _Stop_.

And you felt cold and a tinge of fear colored you.

You closed your eyes, the Monster’s tone grew aggravated as you demoted him to background noise. You succeeded a shaky exhale to calm your panicked heart.

Using magic without a medium was dangerous, if something goes, you were the one to suffer the consequences, not your intended target. You were fortunate when things backfired on you, you weren’t hurt too bad and mostly minorly inconvenienced.

(You tried to not laugh at the stupidity that was you frozen in place as a big bird cuddled you in her nest, trying to incubate you.)

You managed a deep inhale, your chest expanding and breaking the magic on you just enough.

“...what are you doin—stop—!”

You exhaled slow, magic flowing from that source deep within and breathed into existence—

_“Wind.”_

A cyclone engulfed you, knocking the skeleton off of his stool, breaking his magic on you and the room.

There was a murmur of distress from the room and you summoned the familiar weight to your left hand. Before the skeleton could retaliate, you breathed again—

You were gone. Sans stared in shock at the spot you were at, Grillby and Red Bird both giving a start at your disappearance. In the immediate surroundings, the canine unit jumped to their feet, charging for the door, following Doggo as he cleared the door.

“They attacked Sans!”

“(Where did that wind come from?)”

“Doggo, wait!”

 

—————

 

You watched from your hiding spot on top of the bar, peeking over the rail and kneeling in the snow. The bipedal dogs had sprinted for you, just like you thought they would. Only one of them was missed by your spell, but they were just too slow on the uptake on following you out the door.

The dogs in black hoodies barged in the Shop while the rest took off for the forest, following (what you assumed was) your old trail.

You were highly disappointed at how that turned out.

And this was probably your second worse acclimation attempt to a new World.

You pulled back, dropping your head between your arms and stretched your back and shoulders from your exciting acrobatics just now.

Lately it seemed like you made more enemies on new Worlds than friends and it severely bummed you out.

Why, oh why did you have to land on so many Worlds where you stuck out like a sore thumb?

You adjusted your stance, squatting on your haunches instead of soaking your knees in the snow. You peeked over the ledge again, the coast clear of dogs and skeletons. Pulling yourself up, you dusted any stray snow off of your legs and took off for edge of the roof, crouching down to spring for the next roof.

Wind bouyanted you high enough to miss the trees as you land gently on the next roof. It was an easy hop and skip to the other two buildings. There was a river up ahead and you thought you saw a boat. You glanced over your shoulder, the barks and howls a distant noise, before you floated down, right in front of the boat.

An intimidating figure stood solemnly, as if waiting for you. You walked up to them, hesitant, and wave awkwardly.

“H-hello hello!” you tried cheerfully. “Uhm...c-can I have a ride to...uh...oh...Wa-Water—fall?”

They bowed your head and the robe motioned for you aboard.

You did so hesitantly.

The boat sped off. Knocked to your knees, you try and hold on as the robed person watched.

“Tra la la,” they sung, the voice melodious and peaceful. “Beware of the person who came from another world.”

Your nails dung into the wood as the wind whips by.

Did they know??

“Tra la la…”

 

—————

 

Well. _**Now**_ where were you?

You looked around the area, five paths you could take, not including the one you just left. It felt like you were just going to walk in circles and that’s how they would find—

“DO NOT WORRY, UNDYNE. YOU CAN STAY WITH ME AND MY BROTHER UNTIL WE BUILD YOU A NEW HOUSE!”

“Hrm...thanks, nerd.”

You meandered passed the odd skeleton and fish lady as casually as you could, trying to hide how lost you were and just deciding to keep going forward. You tried to be confident, but also easy going, wearing a polite smile and hands in your pockets. You added a stupid little hop as you dodged around them, head low.

You also tried to ignore the glare she criticized you with, a single eye judging you from head to toe. She looked like she wanted to say something, to step in your path. The tough Monster inhaled, to call you out when a high pitched noise trilled.

“What?” the lady barked in her phone.

You tensed, faintly hearing barks on the other side of the phone.

“What!? H-hey! You! Wait!”

Too late. You were already sprinting ahead, keeping low. 

Which was fortunate as a spear zipped passed your cheek, narrowly hitting you as you leapt pass an adorable yellow duck and the small water way. 

“HALT! IN THE NAME OF THE KING!”

You were gasping, running down a hall, passed a skeleton that startled from their nap into another hall. There was more yelling, faint. Then a boring gray door. You figured you were out of sight enough to chance grabbing the knob. The surprise you felt when it easily opened was buried as you ducked in, slowing down enough to gently pull the door close with a soft click.

You were facing the door, hands hovering over the knob, ready to use brute force to keep the door shut while shortening your breath. Your forehead nearly touched the wood as you waited. 

The hair on the back of your neck stood and you swallowed dryly. You heard the two yelling, tearing down the hall without hesitation and all you could think was how could they have missed the door when a shiver tickled your spine.

Something was...i n h e r e w i t h y o u…

You wetted your lips and glanced over your shoulder. A loud bang filled the small room as you threw yourself at the door and away from whatever...whatever _that_ was occupying the room with you.

They looked like they were melting, a sad lump of a person. A white head, black sockets, drooping smile as they hunched forward, white hands pulled up to their chest with weak wrists. Your eyes darted across the cracks scarring their face, the holes in their palms. 

As if feeling your stare, small white lights popped on, the melting smile growing and the room filled with a high trill of giggles.

And they were gone.

You were sprinting back the way you came as soon as you heard the loud skeleton, hopping over a rogue spear and passed the hall where the boat dropped you off. You were breathing heavy as the roar of waterfalls filled your ears, fields of glowing blue flowers surrounded either side of you and you swore you could hear them whispering.

“HALT! IN THE NAME OF THE KING!”

Nausea filled you at the echo. There was only one way for you to go, and into the dark you ran.

 

—————

 

Somehow, you found your way out before the duo caught up. They were yelling, hollering for you to stop: in the name of the King, by the Royal Guards, because I said so. You were sprinting in the open, splashing loudly in the ankle deep water, the two not far behind.

It was a dead-end. In your rush to escape, you cornered yourself and you _were so mad at your neglectance._ There was no time to double back. Into the tall grass you went, pressed hard against the wall and low to the ground.

You could hear the two charging from the maze and held your breath.

But your pursuers never even came close, just yelled and hollered.

“They went this way, nerd!”

Before fading into the background, gone and silence found you.

You exhaled shakily and then shook your head, your hands shook and you glared at them fiercely.

What. Was. _That._

“What the _actual fuck_ is this place,” you hissed and fisted the dirt.

_“What the actual fuck is this place.”_

You froze at the voice whispering to your side. Someone was here? When? What?

But all you found was the blue flower. You crawled to it, confused and poked it.

_“What the actual fuck is this place.”_

Your eyes lit up and the chase was immediately forgotten.

“What. What. What!!”

The flower echoed you back.

“Amazing! Astounding! What are you?”

_“What are you...you...you…”_

You caress a petal as the flower stuttered. 

You leaned in close,cupping your mouth to whisper quietly to the flora.

“You are _amazing._ ”

The flower echoed eagerly. 

_“Amazing! Amazing!”_

You laid flat back in the dirt, fighting back a sneeze while peeking through the blades of grass, a little embarrassed at your excitement. You peeked back out and looked where you came from. It didn’t seem like the two Monsters were backtracking any time soon…

You took that as your cue, looking back to the flower still whispering, _“...amazing. You are amazing!”_ , you burst out of the tall grass and jogged back to the water. A glowing path of smaller plants led the way and you tiptoed up it.

You felt a little exposed, but you immediately happened upon two more of these talking flowers and fell to your knees to hear what they had to say.

 _“If I say my wish, you promise not to laugh at me?”_ a small voice breathed.

The next flower responded with, _“Of course I won’t laugh!”_

You looked up, this new area was dark with glowing dust (pollen?) illuminating the new field of flowers you found yourself in. Some itched at the back of your neck and you looked up. 

“Oh...oh, _wow!!_ ”

The ceiling looked like stars!

_“Someday, I’d like to climb this mountain we’re all under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around… That's my wish.”_

The shallow water soaked through your shoes and your toes were cold. At the back of your mind, you feared that they might rot off if you didn’t dry them properly.

 _“...hey, you said you wouldn’t laugh at it!”_ The flower cried over tittering giggles. 

_“Sorry, it’s just funny… That’s my wish, too.”_

You stepped out of the water, moving forward eagerly to find the rest of this conversation only to find a plaque, a dark corridor.

And no more flowers.

You turned back for the field, to start at the beginning. You crouched down and leaned forward to whisper into the flower’s petal, oblivious to the water soaking your clothes.

“Believe in the Light! I will open the door.”

You stumble to your feet, splashing as you run to the next flower. You cleared your throat, inhaled, and softly sung.

“One day you will realize...the stars you are chasing...shine bright deep inside you.”

You tripped this next time, soaking your knees and hands as you rushed forward to the last flowers, cupping your hands around your mouth to whisper conspiratorially into the petals. 

You breathed, voice soft, the tone crooning. 

“You’ll see the light...my dearly beloved.”

You fled the flower fields, sprinting forward and across the bridges. You felt your chest expand with purpose and you had a new mission. 

_**They**_ might not have infected this World, but you can deny them access.

And you can grant someone’s wish to see the sky.

 

—————

 

When you saw the rolling sign for HOTLAND, you thought it was going to be a little toasty.

What you weren’t expecting was to cross a wooden bridge suspended over a pit of lava.

“This...this is all levels unsafe.”

This World was becoming more and more fascinating with its own biodomes to adjust to living (in what you imaged) was deep underground.

And it was hot here. Maybe not lava-under-foot hot, but still _hot_.

Sweat was beading at your forehead and you resisted the urge to wipe it off as you passed _another_ empty booth.

But there was a handy water cooler across the next bridge.

Then you saw _the first human since you landed here._

“H-hey!! Wait!!”

 

—————

 

Sans peeked an eye open as you sprint pass him, completely oblivious to him and his illegal water-dog stand. He watched as you nearly tackled the kid, gushing to the small, confused human.

He watched as you realized that the human didn’t communicate with words and adapted to the child (it was some basic nod for yes, shake for no).

He watched as you spoke friendly and kind to the child, there were periods of silence as the kid waved their arms at you, you nodding your head.

He judged and CHECK’d your STATS, something he forgot to do when he met you at Grillby’s.

His phalanges dented the wood, small imprints embedded deep and felt his eyelights extinguish.

Your STATS were impossible. _How?_

Sans fear of the kid, of their choices and how this Timeline would run immediately flipped to a SOUL shattering concern _for_ them.

They were an anomaly. But a familiar glitch that mostly meant well and was trying to fix things. To make things right.

The kid was the familiar evil.

But _you_ , you were a new anomaly.

He had _never_ met you before. And with how insane your STATS were, Sans resisted the urge to take a shortcut back to the Ruins, and see if he could find the dust you must have left behind.

But he couldn’t just abandon the kid, to be _alone_ with you.

He made a promise.

His grin was tight and painful as he watched you take the kid’s offered hand and walk with them, laughing with a wink.

He was shaking, the concern, the fear, the promise, the _memories_ weighed heavy on his SOUL in a way that Sans didn’t realize he could feel anymore. Shadows were closing in on you with his tunnel vision and he knew.

He couldn’t leave the kiddo with an actual _monster_ like you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bunch of dumb head canons.
> 
> Mostly because I don't know this game as much as I should.
> 
> Also, I'm awful at puns. I love them and sometimes I can sling back a good one. But my strength lies in really bad dirty/flirty jokes.
> 
> ineedabettertitleforthisstory


	3. Unnecessary Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"The shadows of this World will try to steal you away into their arms, but you belong in mine."_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> You can be a team player when the time calls for it.
> 
> Now, if only they would let you play.

You forgot how nice it was to just hold someone’s hand.

Frisk—it turned out that they weren’t necessarily _mute_ , just a small human of very few words—was pointing and motioning and nodding fiercely in agreement to something you said or shaking their head solemnly when they didn’t. They were charmingly animated, especially when they winked flirtatiously.

“Oh, you!” You tittered, covering your mouth with the back of your hand, playing along as they guided you through Hotland.

It was nice.

This was _nice_.

You told Frisk about how you were visiting all the places you’ve heard about: Snowdin, Waterfall, how snow didn’t feel that cold, flowers that parroted what you whisper to it, and how building a suspended wooden bridge over a lava pit had to be in your top twenty bad ideas.

(How building suspended bridges without handrails were not OSHA approved.)

They asked you what was in your top ten.

In your most serious voice, raising your chin to peer down at them over your nose, you answered: “Skating with a wheelie chair.”

They giggled, mashing their small child hand against their face to curb the noise. You grinned, ducking your chin in your shoulder to hide your laughs.

Frisk mimed something to you, wriggling and dancing as you graced them with a bemused smile.

This was _so_ nice.

So charmed by the small human and their impromptu interpretive dance, you missed a moving puddle. The pool bounced across the floor like a dark stain, the darkness aiming for your little friend.

Your smile fell as a Shadow burst from its puddle, horror striking your heart cold, as on its descent, claws raked forward and struck your new found friend.

Their eyes snapped open in shock, tears brimming the corners with a soft whimper falling from their lips. You snatched them towards you too late, into your protective embrace as three more Heartless propelled high into the air and attacked.

Frisk trembled in your arms as you lashed out with the heat ever burning in your body, tucking their head under your chin as fire cycloned around you as you yelled, exploding the creatures into orbs of darkness.

“H-hang on there, little friend. I can fix this, I can make this b-better.”

A small heart popped from their back, cracked and damaged. You had half the thought of _could your magic heal damage on the heart?_ when it audibly snapped, broken in half, falling to pieces as the child in your arms fell still.

“No-oo!” A baritone voice echoed your sobs as you dumped your magic into them, literal portals of darkness closing in hungrily.

 

—————

 

“—on a wheelie chair,” you said solemnly, eyes closed, remembering a time when you were young and naive, the chair slipping out from under you as gravity taught you a hard lesson..

Frisk didn’t laugh like you thought they would, looking over their shoulder nervously instead. You opened your mouth, about to ask what was wrong while following their line of sight when you saw **_them_** , **_their_** familiar shadows darting for your new friend.

You yanked them out of the way, protectively behind you as you landed a solid kick on the Shadow’s chest just as it sprung from the earth. They flew back, hitting a wall and falling into the lava below.

Your victory was short lived. Frisk was yanked from your bruising grasp and you turned just in time to see three Shadow Heartless converging on them, a small heart bursting from their chest that had you screaming, the fragile thing shattering at the almost gentle caress of their claws. You felt the Heartless frustration, the horror in the child’s eyes, and your anger in yours.

You tore into the Heartless immediately, cutting through them while catching the dying child in your arms—

 

—————

 

“—a wheelie chair,” you found yourself finishing. Frisk was tugging, yanking on your arm, trying to rush you in the opposite direction you were walking.

You were sluggish in your response, your chest aching, pulsing. Detached just enough from Frisk to feel the familiar thrum of approaching Darkness in your heart, the Light that was your existence reacting negatively to them approaching.

You didn’t think, couldn’t think as muscle memory led your movement. The air flared with a terrible magic. You scooped Frisk up. Despite their whining protest, you curled them against your chest and crouched, using your body as a shield when the magic exploded all at once, hyper focused as a beam that decimated everything in its path.

Time froze as you focused on the low frequency that was this magic, vibrating your heart painfully.

And all at once, your back erupted in pain, the magic tearing into your clothes and searing your flesh. The child screamed and writhed in your arms, but you held firm.

You collapsed to your knees, teeth gritted and hissing to just breathe through the pain. Frisk was openly crying in your arms and you hushed them, deaf to your own words of comfort. Your head fuzzy from pain and dread when the thrum of Darkness did not _leave_.

“They...missed…” you groaned and the most peculiar feeling of something popping from your chest happened. You stared at your heart with hazy eyes and it still struck you odd that it was such a pretty color and how warm you felt staring at it.

It never got old, seeing your heart ( _but was it a different color than before...?_ ). So mesmerized with the glowing crystal, you missed the warm, panicked hands trying to shove it back into your chest as it cracked and shatt—

 

—————

 

“—whee—wheelie chairs,” you gasped, missing a step forward and dropping a knee trying catch your breath.

Voices screamed, shrieked, the dread of being _latelatelateyouweretoo **late**_. 

Hands grasped at your bicep, pulling, tugging, _yanking_ as you struggled to make sense of _anything_.

Your chest expanded with a sound _ba-bump_ and your vision snapped back in place, the screams silenced, and the panicked whimpers and soundless yells of your new small friend focused your thoughts.

Muscle memory controlled you (again), scooping up the small child, a terrible feeling of déjà vu sinking your stomach as you enacted a spell for guarding with a breathless—

“Reflect!”

High pings echoed in your ears as multiple bodies ricocheted off of your translucent shield. A few of your enemies burst into orbs of darkness, a Darkball bounced back dazed like a terrible floating balloon, and a couple Neoshadows laid prone on their back, twitching unnaturally.

_Differentdifferentdifferent!!_

Your mind _screamed_.

_**They** found you. They **were** here._

Frisk escaped your hold, sprinting away from you as a Neoshadow shook themselves on all fours, stood, and _pursued_.

You were struck dumb as the other Heartless followed, blind to the group being engulfed in blue magic, lifted and slammed into walls and jerked away from nipping Frisk’s heels.

 _ **They**_ didn’t find **_you_**.

 _ **They**_ found _**Frisk**_.

You chased.

Get the kid, save the kid. They’re only purebloods. ( _But they were_ NeoShadows _, your thoughts protested._ ) You still had time, you could still save everyone.

You can still save this World.

( _Were they always Neos?_ )

The empty forest.

The picturesque holiday village, abandoned and cold.

A letter begging you to run, escape while you still can.

Your angry screams as you killed and maimed and _fought_ with your pocket weighing heavy with a piece of snow that just wanted to see the World.

An empty World.

They were possible endings, potentials for how this World could go, have gone, _will_ go if you didn’t stop them, end it now.

Your chest filled with ice at the implications.

You gathered Wind under your feet and bounded forward, leaping across the map with a yell, ignoring how the magic that backlashed against your ankles with your chaotic thoughts, slicing the thin skin before finally, _finally_ , brandishing your weapon with a Heart filled with Determination.

And dread.

The charm on your left wrist glowed, snapping to its true form in a flash of Light in your fist. It was heavy with your quest, but resolute with your goals. As you landed, hard and jarring, you held your weapon high, in the shape of a large key and the dozens of Heartless that infested the area froze.

As one, they pivoted to you, jerking and twitching like broken animatronics, empty eyes staring.

As one, they converged, yanked from their stance as dolls on strings after you yelled: “Magnet!”

The spiral of magic spheres over your head held fast to the Heartless that bumbled and writhed to escape your magic, swiping at your Keyblade fiercely.

You met eyes with a Neoshadow’s bulging ones, their screams of pain echoed painfully in your chest.

But your sympathy for the creatures swallowed by Darkness was long dead as you built up the fire from within, expelling a protective cyclone of wind around you and your prey; to keep them in and everyone out.

Your magic was draining rapidly as you let the fire burn, starting from your feet. Three pillars gurgled, bubbling with intention as your magic lifted you from the ground in the same motion of you throwing your Keyblade high, pillars of flames bursting from the ground, cycling around you and into your captured prey.

The name of the attack was drowned in the whirlwind of fire that cycloned you harmlessly, your Keyblade snapping from your hand to circle and strike. Your clothes fluttered, untouched by the heat as the Heartless, one by one, burst into orbs of Darkness until nothing was left but your magnetic magic.

First, the rolling Magnera faded, its feed of magic cut. Then your geyser of flames sucked back into the ground, you with it, landing on the balls of your feet and snatching your dancing blade from the air.

Panting, trembling, you hugged the Aeroga close, keeping your shield up as a dissuasion to any would-be attacks. You now had an audience and your knees buckled at the fear in their eyes.

You tore your eyes from the group and looked in yourself to gauge your reservoir of magic, grimacing at how pathetic it was. Low chance of escape, the fish woman and tall skeleton from before stood protectively in front of the small human.

The fish woman gnashed her fangs at you, the fear there palatable and gut wrenching.

There was always a chance of this, of being feared and hated for hunting Heartless. It was a high probability on peaceful Worlds, the ones who don’t realize the consequence of apathetic action towards the Heartless. How they were usually too late when they realized the disaster that would come from inaction.

It was the price you were willing to pay, weak and vulnerable after this fight. If you had to be World’s Most Wanted each place you visited to stop the Heartless, you’d gladly take the mantle.

Serenity at this was in the form of a phantom breeze tickling your cheeks and waves rushing between your toes.

A promise whispered.

It gave you enough stamina to fight on.

Your heart stuttered when the familiarity of Darkness tickled it.

The pendant at the end of your Keyblade chimed when you readjusted your grip, stubbornly maintaining your Aeroga with your rapidly depleting magic. The fish woman brandished her spear. Your audience was silent as you felt the familiar pull of Darkness at your chest again. 

Darkness chased light, light chased darkness.

You had to leave. Now. Before they returned and tried to harm your little friend.

Of whom was trying to run to you. The tall skeleton held them back, hoisting them off the ground as they kicked and grunted violently.

The fish woman charged and you focused on her. There was an odd pulse in your chest, air almost knocked from your lungs when the woman reached out as if to yank you towards her.

You breathed, Gravity and Time blending as one so that you vanished before her eye—

—to behind her, sprinting from the group, back towards what you hoped was the yellow flowers and the dark maze.

“HALT—!!”

Your Aeroga dropped, the last of your magic spent.

The ground trembled under foot, leaving you stumbling for balance as walls of bones attempted to knock you forward.

You used them as stairs, hopping from one wall to the next before they changed their patterned and you misstepped with your face planting against a new wall.

Your fingers clawed against the enamel, heart pounding in your ears as you felt the Heartless try and sniff you out.

You snapped your Keyblade back to its charm form on your wrist, just in time to miss the well-aimed femur knocking you in the head.

 

—————

 

You were on a dog bed.

You snapped up from the cushion with a jerk. The room was empty and you were behind what you assumed were cell bars for horses. Your head swam and you wobbled, falling towards the wall and braced against it.

From your perch, you surveyed your spartan cell. There was the dog bed that you woke up on, a dog dish, and two windows.

It was snowing outside.

Your heart pounded painfully and you slid down the wall, your handing clawing just above it. Screaming, screaming was echoing through your head. Broken sobs, pleas for mercy.

The lives lost were on you. 

_**They**_ were **_here_**. And **_they_** were after a local.

_**Not you.** _

You failed. Oh, By the Lanes Between, you _**failed**_. You were gasping at the weight of your revelation. Everyone was going to be devoured by the Heartless and you did nothing. _**Nothing**_. 

_Notagainnotagainnotagain._

A high giggle squealed in the distance, a booming voice following and then a spiel of laughter.

Your panic froze, the fingers buried at your temple ached as you eased off of the strands. You looked up to the window and watched the snow, quiet as you strained to hear the voices again. 

You flew to your would-be cage, sliding easily between the bars. You grabbed the door and yanked it back to sprint towards the noise, to see with your own eyes that the kid was okay, that they weren’t hurt.

(Your anguish was fresh at the sight of them being dragged under the mob of Heartless, your Keyblade hacking away as you failed to save them.)

You ran into a wall.

“Where do you think you’re going, mage?”

The nasally voice was cold and cruel, you could taste the distaste in their tone as their hand gripped your shoulder and flung you back. 

You let them, your feet leaving the ground as you crashed into the wall behind you.

“Back in your cell!”

You slid to the floor in a slump, chest pounding. 

Not in fear, not of this strong fish lady pirate in workout clothes.

But in relief.

The kid was alive, reaching around a boney leg as a large red glove held them firmly in place.

The woman stormed up to you, reaching for your shoulder.

“Are you deaf? I said get in your—“

“How long was I out?”

Her hand froze and her face turned purple, sputtering.

“You don’t get to ask questions, ma—“

“How long.” You pressed into her hand, standing easily under her immense strength. You watched as she floundered and it was her pride that kept her from ripping her hand from your shoulder. “Was I. Out?”

The pirate fish lady sputtered and pressed back against you. You watched her arm bulge, veins popped out and you. Pressed. Back.

She threw herself away, staring at you with that horrible horrible taste of fear. You swallowed your empathy. You knew how traumatizing it could be to run into one of your kind, having strength that went beyond the bounds of a natural human.

The silence, the judgement, the staring between you two was dense. You kept your arms down, at the disadvantage to keep yourself as harmless as you could. But if you could, if it were possible, you would reach up and tear that fear apart with your bare hands. 

But it wasn’t.

You swallowed and repeated your question, soft and appealing as you could:

“How long was I out?”

“...an hour...maybe.”

You closed your eyes and inhaled to steady the spike in your chest at the soft, breathy voice.

“HUMAN! IT IS NOT SAFE!”

You opened them again to find the odd human child standing in front of you, arms held out as if physically holding back the Monsters by sheer will alone.

And a quick glance at the two behind them and the determined look in their eyes made that an easy thought to swallow.

(They hit and slapped and clawed at your arms, your chest, your face as the burning grew unbearable. The beam was deafening, reaching a frequency so low that it thrummed deep in your chest.

But you held them tight, shielding them with your body as they sobbed for you to stop.

They fought until your arms finally gave away.)

“You’re not going to hurt me,” stated Frisk. You pulled away the palm pressing into your eye, not remembering the action in the first place and then nodded, hesitant and slow, retaining that eye contact.

“And you’re not going to hurt them.”

Again, you nodded whilst resisting the urge to twitch at the pirate fish lady’s scoff.

“And how d’you know that, nerd?”

Her anger spiked and took a heavy step forward. You knew she would have charged you if not for the tall skeleton with red gloves latching onto her bicep with a squawk of protest.

“UNDYNE—!”

“They _murdered_ those—things! Without batting an eye! They used _magic!_ On my men! On your brother!” She was snarling, teeth sharp and bared with each accusation lobbed at you. “You’re dangerous!”

She was pulling against the skeleton and the kid braced themselves against her legs, trying to keep her from wringing your neck.

(Maybe she did, stepping over the kid. Picking up the kid and tossing them at the skeleton before wrapping her webbed fingers tight around your neck.

Or was it your fingers?)

“I am dangerous.”

Frisk plopped to the ground when the lady took a horrified step back. Their bemused look was ignored. They wrapped their arms around one of her legs.

“You admit it!?”

You nod.

“Of course.” You rubbed at your neck, as if to alleviate the phantom pain there and shook your head. “I am...very dangerous.”

You looked to the side, feeling the steady beat of your heart and nothing else.

“Those Shadows are moreso.”

The woman looked like she was going to scream more, maybe attack you. But the kid reached up and yanked on the bottom of her tank top. She snapped her head to her feet, mouth half open in a scold when something on the kid’s face made her shut her trap.

“They _**saved**_ me,” whispered Frisk, the small hands that you had held curled into fists as they stared.

(Your chest was tight at the realization that you wanted to hold the child’s hand and would never be able to again.)

Frisk was clinging to your legs now, silent and staring.

You blinked away the weird feelings and knelt to their level. Your hands hovered over their face that was clear of blemishes, their bob smooth, trimmed neatly at the ends. This small human was okay and those horrible thoughts— _memories_ —of the Heartless getting them were **_wrong_**.

And you were so happy for it.

You whispered an apology before dragging them into a painfully tight hug and just held them. There was a sputtering protest from both the skeleton and fish lady but the kid hugged you back just as fiercely.

“‘m sorry…” Your fingers combed through their bob as the child trembled. “I am so sorry that I missed. I am so **_sorry_** that they grabbed you.” Your embrace was almost painfully tight, but you had to reassure yourself that they were real. “I am so sorry it happened at all.”

“EXCUSE ME, HUMAN MAGE.” The voice boomed, making you jerk in surprise. “I AM SORRY TO INTERRUPT SUCH A WONDERFUL DISPLAY OF COMRADERY AND LOVE, BUT I HAVE TO ASK: WHAT WERE THOSE BLACK THINGS?”

You pulled back from the hug and smoothed the child’s bob. They looked to you with red rimmed eyes that you wiped under with your thumbs and a casual use of Cure magic. Both monsters were stunned at the soft chime of bells as Frisk’s blotchy cheeks returned to a uniformed color.

“They’re called Heartless.”

“Never heard of them.” grouched the pirate fish lady, crossing her arms.

You kept your eyes on Frisk, curious about how their small hands gripped your wrist so that they could lean their cheek against your palm. 

“I’d be surprised if you had; they’re not exactly from these parts…” Your eyes snapped to the fish lady. “There hasn’t...no one has gone missing recently, have they?”

“And what do you mean by that!?”

“That this was the first time you’ve seen them.”

“FROM MY KNOWLEDGE, YES.” Your eyes darted to the tall skeleton. He was cupping his mandible with a big red glove, hrm-ing and ha-ing as if that helped comb through all of his recent memories. “NOTHING HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THE CANINE UNIT AND SANS HAS NOT SEEN ANYTHING SUSPICIOUS DURING HIS SENTRY DUTIES.”

“The shopkeeper in Snowdin made it sound like everything was fine and dandy in the vill—”

You were cut off by Frisk whipping around, facing their friends with their arms out wide as if that shielded you completely. It startled you, their sudden movement. But it took all but a fraction of a second to glance over their head to see that the fish woman had an wicked sharp spear in their face, directed at the center of their forehead, right where your throat would have been if they hadn’t—

“Punk, c’mon.” The woman’s face twisted. “Move. Why are you protecting them?”

Frisk inhaled and moved as if they would take a step forward. You went into a panic and wrapped your arms around them to yank them back, away from impaling themselves on her spear.

(You didn’t noticed the woman ripping her weapon back just as fast.)

That spear was at your neck.

You accepted it, keeping the child pinned in your lap, safe and preventing them from being the hero.

(They kicked and clawed ferociously, their attacks benign due to their short limbs and your superior strength. You thought in a passing that they were trembling.)

You and the woman stared.

...

You caved first.

“What,” you started softly, hands moving with the child as you impeded their attempts at freedom, “can I do to make you _stop_ attacking me at everything I say?”

Without missing a beat.

“Release the kid and. Get back. In your cell.”

Your hands flew to shoulder height before she finished her sentence. The fish woman scoffed, holding her spear firm for an extra second longer before finally taking it from your throat. She aimed the sharp tip to the ceiling and rested it against her shoulder before taking a large step forward and swooping down to snatch Frisk from your lap by their waist.

You closed your eyes against the small hands grasping for your clothes and clenched your hands in fists to restrain yourself from reaching back for them.

When the weight was gone and the three a sizeable distance away, you opened your eyes and carefully rolled between the pillars acting as a cell gate. The fish woman opened her mouth, another order at the tip of her tongue, but you were a step ahead of her. Your roll had enough momentum to get you to your feet and you continued deeper into your ‘prison cell.’

Specifically, you walked to the dog bed, hands still held shoulder height as you crossed your ankles to drop yourself in a crossed leg seat on the cushion with the bend of your leg.

The three were in front of the pillars that acted as your cell and you watched the woman’s face twist before grumbling, “ _Papyrus._ How do you expect to keep anyone in here?”

“I SUPPOSE THE BARS ARE TOO FAR APART. THAT EXPLAINS HOW THE HUMAN ESCAPED AFTER I CAPTURED THEM.” The skeleton bounced the human they were holding.

The human that was staring at you with the saddest of expressions.

“...can I talk now?”

The room cracked with the spear striking the ground.

“Yes. But I get to ask the questions. If you try anything fishy, I will take you out.”

A short breath through your nose and you bob your head.

“Fine. _Fine._ I will sit right here, not move, and answer your questions. But, _please._ Please, _ask._ ”

“What were those...shadow-things in Hotland. You called them heartless. You _killed_ them with a weapon. Where is that weapon? It wasn’t on you when Papyrus knocked you out. What do you mean Snowdin is fine? Of course it’s—”

“UNDYNE! THEY CAN’T ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IF YOU DON’T LET THEM!”

The woman, Undyne, scoffed but snapped her mouth shut, drumming her fingers against her spear. She was grumbling and finally exploded with a yell.

“NGAHHH!! FINE! What’s wrong with Snowdin!? My men are there right now keeping them safe!”

“Nothing is _wrong_ with Snowdin. I was just saying the shopkeeper was happy and only seemed to be stressed out about the normal day to day things. I didn’t mean to insinuate any—”

“SHUT! UP!!” You bit your lip and glared. “Next question! Those creatures in Hotland; what were they!?”

“They’re called Heartless. They are--”

“WHY ARE THEY CALLED HEARTLESS?”

“B-because they are creatures born—”

“So! They’re just another type of Monster then! Do you get your kicks from _killing_ monsters, mage?”

“M-mage? I’m not a—!”

“BUT YOU USE MAGIC! THE ONLY HUMANS THAT CAN USE MAGIC ARE MAGES!”

“Does it make you feel good _murdering_ defenseless Monsters, hunh human!?”

“I’m not a murderer—!”

“BUT YOU KILLED THOSE HEARTLESS CREATURES, DIDN’T YOU?”

“”Y-yes! B-But it’s _not_ the same! If I d—”

“You killed them! So that makes you a killer, _mage_!”

“By the Lanes Between, can _you STOP!?_ ”

The vicious spear was immediately aimed at you, protruding between the pillars as you lept to your feet in anger and frustration.

“You said if I was in this cage, that I could _talk!_ Let me _talk!_ Let me _explain!_ ” You were trembling, the anger and audacity of being called a killer hit you harder that you wanted to admit.

How dare these Monsters judge _you!_

“I am here to _help._ I am here to save you! And I can’t do that if you keep _attacking_ me!”

You fell back on the cushion, dropping your head in your palms and bit back the scream you wanted to exhale.

“Heartless are creatures born from the darkness in someone’s heart,” you spit out, refusing to pick your head up and even look at your captors. “I asked if you knew if anyone was _missing_ because they steal any and all hearts that they stumble upon. Losing your heart—you lose _yourself_ and they get _stronger_ and more are born.”

The room was so quiet, your ears rung as you concentrate on the blood pumping through them. Your fingers dug into your scalp and it helped to ground you.

“...I kill them because they kill _everyone._ I—There’s no way for you to know this, but the Heartless have eaten Wor—Places. People. So many people. I am here to stop them, so that they can’t claim another life, not if I can prevent it.”

Your mission echoed in the shed. Your thoughts raced with memories. Memories of the Worlds you visited. Memories of the Worlds you saved. The friends you made, comrade in Arms and fellow Heroes and Knights.

You almost smiled, the burning from the pressure of your palms buried in your sockets snuffed it with the reminder of who you failed. 

Like those of the Worlds you failed.

Memories of the Worlds you missed, of all the hearts that you lost.

Memories of the Worlds where you succeeded in sealing the keyhole, but only for an empty World.

Three solid beats passed, your heart pounding at your confession.

The silence drug on and you were left to your thoughts, chewing on your words that you spoke in frustration.

In the silence, you continued to think of the Worlds that were lost, their Heart devoured by the Heartless because you were just.

Too.

_**Late.** _

The butt of Undyne’s spear tapped your shoulder and then under your chin, raising it so that you looked her in the eye.

“I don’t trust you, human,” she growled when you finally met her eye. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Papyrus and I are gonna do a census, make sure no one has been taken by the...Heartless and see if anyone from the Guard has encountered them. You.”

She added pressure to your neck.

“You are going to stay here. In your cell. Until I come back to get you.”

 

—————

 

This was dumb.

You remained in your easily-escapable cell, on the dog bed, with only a bowl filled to the brim with kibble-n-bits.

Your legs were crossed and hands braced on your knees like a good little prisoner.

And it was so _**dumb.**_

You should be out there, looking for the Keyhole.

You should be out there, looking for the Heartless.

You should be out _there_ , defending, protecting.

Releasing _**them**_.

But, no. You’re _here_ , like a good little captive. Keeping your word, bound to them like shackles as they did a headcount.

Frisk was...nearby. Or, at least, that’s your educated guess. You heard a general grumble of ‘keeping the human safe’ and ‘DON’T WORRY. MY BROTHER WILL KEEP AN EYE SOCKET ON THEM.’

Which made you feel...optimistic about your choice in remaining inactive.

The Heartless were attracted to them. Theoretically, they will find them again. And the closer they were to you, the sooner you could save them. 

Theoretically.

Which was why you were positioned how you were at that moment. Eyes shut, paced breathing, focusing on your own ticker and seeking out the Darkness relentlessly searching for your Light.

The solitude made you think, as it usually does. 

Mostly about your memories.

You grimaced and touched your chest, gripping the fabric as your heart ached.

You _died_.

You remembered dying. You remembered Frisk patting you, their voice strangled in disuse as they begged you to hold on.

You remembered the Heartless closing in before waking up again.

Deep inhale. Pause. Exhale. Your hand was back on your knee and you meditated.

This World must be in a time loop.

It would explain the weird thoughts you had.

And where your snowball went.

Who was the catalyst? What set them off? What determined where the loop starts?

“Great,” you grumbled, a frown tugging on your face. “Can’t find the Heartless, don’t know where the Keyhole is, and now I have to worry about Time going rogue? What the fuck is up with this World…”

You sniffed, another calming breath, and hissed through your teeth. You needed to organize your memories, the ones you mistaken as your colorful imagination.

You made a face at a new thought, of when you first landed.

(You sneezed three times in memory.)

How many times have you _died_ since landing here?

How _long_ have you been here?

Everything was quiet.

…

……

…—

“—so are you going to say anything or…?” You peeked at the Monster outside your cell.

The grinning skeleton stood still, hands buried in his hoodie pockets while staring. His eyelights met yours before darting to the side, looking towards the door and then back. 

“m‘name’s sans,” he rumbled. “sans the skeleton.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ba-dum-dum-tish!
> 
> I know. I said this is a Sans/Reader, but _c'mooonnn_. In the real world, no one immediately trusts a person who can literally summon walls of fire to smote their enemies!
> 
> Question for those who read this: Would you rather have more frequent updates with vastly smaller chapters or slower updates with large and in charge chapters?
> 
> Because I purposely cut this one short(ish) of where I originally wanted to end it because it just _gosh dang takes me too long to write alidhfa;lk_ and it's been two months.
> 
> Yikes.
> 
> Happy Holidays and New Year! _hopefullyicancrankoutanewchapbeforejanends_
> 
> Quote in the summary (and inspiration for the story)is from the song Dearly Beloved by AmaLee!


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